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Boys soccer: Leyden ousts Maine West with PKs

It was both captivating and nerve-wracking as the Class 3A boys soccer regional final featuring Leyden and Maine West in Northlake was decided in penalty kicks Friday.

In heart-stopping fashion, David Duwal came to the rescue, turning away a fifth-round spot kick by Jason Ybarra to secure a 4-3 shoot-out advantage in Leyden's favor and a 2-1 victory.

Fourth-seeded Leyden (19-3-2) advances to the New Trier sectional Wednesday where it will play the Niles North regional champion, either Glenbrook North or Chicago Taft.

"I've never been involved in PKs here at Leyden, but to tell you the truth, I've always dreamed about being in one and maybe the big save to win the game for us," said Duwal.

The dream came true Friday, Duwal's save sent a raucous student cheering section onto the field to celebrate the 11th regional title in program history.

"Maine West came out so much quicker than what we were prepared for, and they really had most of the play in the first half," said Duwal. "So at that half we talked about just playing better and managing their speed of play."

As good as Maine West (11-7-2) was in the first 40 minutes, the contest went to intermission goal-less, thanks in part to terrific work by Duwal and his counterpart Elmer Vega along with some air-tight defending by both teams.

"Maine West had improved so much more from the last time we met (a 0-0 draw on Sept. 23)," said Leyden coach Mark Valintis. "They controlled the middle of the park, they defended so well from their midfield into the back. They kept Francisco (Toral) and Eduardo (Hernandez) under wraps, and they just seemed to have more energy and speed than last time."

Vega denied the hosts by fearlessly stopping a point-blank blast from Hernandez in the 47th minute.

The intensity of the play boiled over at times, causing the referee to book a couple of players from each side during this second period as he hoped to keep a tight lid on the voracious 50-50 challenges on the ground and in the air.

When 80 minutes of soccer could not settle things, the contest went to a pair of 10-minute extra sessions.

The Warriors struck first as Osmar Vega converted a PK in the 86h minute. That was answered right away by the Eagles with Matt Makowiec drawing his club even 60 seconds later.

Both teams had chances during the 20 extra minutes, but when the whistle sounded it meant this final would be settled another way.

Makowiec sent the first spot-kick to start things off. That was followed by an acrobatic save from reserve keeper Jesus Mancha - only to be waved off when an official ruled the junior had move too soon before his save on Ozzie Espinoza.

Espinoza took full advantage of his second chance when he finished the other way.

When it became 4-3 Leyden after Michal Suchy drove in kick, that set the stage for Duwal to go into full extension to his right, stopping Ibarra with a reaction save with the lower part of his leg.

"I could be the one talking about how it felt to lose a thrilling game like this instead of Alan (Matan) but, instead, we're the ones advancing," Valintis said. "But so much credit has to go to Alan and his team, who played a wonderful 100-plus minutes out here tonight."

"I could not be more proud of a team than I was with these guys tonight," said Matan "They gave everything they had and more, but this is the way this sport goes sometimes.

"The 14 seniors we have hit rock bottom three years ago when we were awful, but last year we got ourselves 7 wins, then 11 this year, including a big win over the No. 6 seed Maine South the other day to get into this final."

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